Pneumatic tire and process of manufacturing same.



No. 708,952. Patented Sept. 9, I902. J. W. BLODGETT. PNEUMATIC TIRE ANDPROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SAME.

(Application filed Mar. 18 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

J/m B10 JZAKW,

No. 708,952. Patented Sept. 9, I902 J. W. BLUDGETT. I PNEUMATIC TIRE ANDPROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SAME. 1

(Application filed. Mar. 18, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-$heet 2.

Z 6 f .9 I K} :7 6 w I LE-51 M W W T: B3 3% UNITED terns JOHN WV.BLODGETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO N. TIRE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC TIRE AND PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 708,952, datedSeptember 9, 1902.

Application filed March 18, 1901. Serial No- 51,579. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. BLODGETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Tires andProcesses of Manufacturing the Same, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention is designed to produce a pneul0 matic tire in which asingle fabric, preferably knit, of any desired strength and size may beemployed and is'also concerned with the novel method of manufacturingthe same.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto I 5 two sheets of drawings,in which the same reference characters are used to designate identicalparts in all the figures, of which Figure l is a side elevation of aportion of the arbor with the partially-completed tire shown thereon insection. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tire thereon in section atanother stage of the process. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion ofthe knit fabric,

showing the ends joined together by crocheting them. Fig. A is a View ofa portion of the interior spread out and showing how the fabric appearsin the completed tire. Fig. 5 is a side elevation, part in section,showing some of the apparatus used in carryingjout the process ofmanufacture. Fig. 6 is a view of a portion of the fabric, showing onemethod of joining its ends. Fig. 7 is a similar View, but with the endsdrawn closer together as they are when the ends are united.

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 6, showing still another method ofconnecting the ends. Fig. 9 is another view similar to Fig. 8, but withthe holding threads or wires withdrawn. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of apair of rollers that may be employed in carrying out my invention; andFig. 11 is a perspective view, partly in section, of molds which may beemployed in carrying out my invention.

I first take an ordinary arbor a, and upon 5 this I place an air-tube b,preferably vulcanized, or partially so.. After coating this with rawrubber solution I wrap around it a sheet of raw rubber c. It will beapparent that instead of employing a vulcanized or partiallyvulcanizedair-tube I might use an air-tube made of raw rubber, in which case thearbor must be soapstoned, so that the tube of raw rubber can be readilydetached. Upon'the raw-rubber exterior of the tube thus formed I place atube of knit fabric 01, which may be made of any desired size or kind oftwine, depending upon the strength and size of the tire required. Imight knit the tube separately and afterward draw it upon the tube onthe arbor; but I preferably arrange a circular- 6o knitting machine sothat the arbor, with the raw-rubber tube thereon,can pass through it andform the tube of'fabric knit in place on the raw-rubber tubethat is, onthe arbor as it passes through the machine. Then the tube is in place onthe arbor, I may pass it between a pair of steam-rollers e, which areprovided with the semicircular grooves f therein, which are of theproper size so that the rollers will serve to press the fabric into theraw rubber. These rollers are mounted in suitable supports (1 and aregeared together at one end, as shown, and a pulley-wheel h applied toone of them at the other end, so that they can be rotated by power. Asshown, these rollers are hollow and have hollow bearings j, throughwhich steam is introduced into the rollers to heat them, so that thefabric. may be more readily embedded in the soft raw rubber.

Another method of embedding the fabric in the raw rubber is to saturatethe fabric with naphtha or some equivalent substance, which serves tosoften the rubber, so that the fabric will adhere thereto and preventany possible relative displacement between the rubber tube and the tubeof fabric and also prevent the stitches from pulling out at their endswhen the ends are being fastened together. After the tube of fabric isthus embedded in or forced to adhere to the raw-rubber tubeit is takenoff of the arbor and the ends of the rubber tube are telescoped intoeach other, so as to bring the ends of the fabric together. Tofacilitate the connecting of these ends by 9 5 any of the means to bedescribed and to pre- Vent the stitches pulling out, I run a string, or,preferably, a small wire 70, through each of the loops Z, forming theouter ends of the fabric. Onesimplewayofconnectingtheends thusbroughttogether is to pass a thread m, by means of a needle, througheach of the loops on both ends, alternating from the loop on one end tothe adjacent loop on the other end, and so on, as clearly shown in Fig.8. When the thread m has been passed all the way around the tube, thewires h are withdrawn and the ends of the thread m are tied, it beingadvisable to make the length of the thread a little bit greater than thecircumference of the tube to allow the possible stretching of the tirethat occurs when it is inflated. Another method of connecting the endsis shown in Figs. 6 and '7 and consists in passing the string m downwardthrough a loop h on one side, bringing it up and passingitupward throughthe adjacent loop Z on the other side, and so on, as shown in Fig. 6. Ofcourse it will be understood that I might pass the string upwardlythrough the loops instead of downwardly. When the thread or string m istightened to bring the ends together, the joint appears as shown in Fig.7. Instead of passing the thread through the outermost loops Z only Ipreferably pass it around a second time, passing it through the loopsnext to the outermost loops, as this prevents the ends being stretchedapart and makes the tire doubly strong at the joint. Another method ofconnecting these ends of the fabric is to simply knit the loops Z,forming the ends, together with a crocheting-needle, the seam whencompleted appearing as shown at n in Fig. 3, where it will be seen thatthe crossstitch thus formed is just the same as the longitudinal stitchforming the body of the fabric. Before the ends of the fabric arejoined, as above described, the valve is put in place on the air-tube bycementing it in the usual way, one end of the fabric being turned backfar enough to permit of this beingdone. When the end of the fabric isdrawn back in place over the valve, a hole is formed in the fabric bydrawing its threads apart sufficiently to permit the valve-stem beingpassed through the fabric, and the ends of the fabric are then joined,as before stated.

The tire may be placed upon a rim of the proper size and in flated tothe size of tire that is desired. Before or after it is inflated thefabric is thoroughlysatu rated with naphtha, so that the raw rubberbecomes soft enough so that the interior pressure of the inflated tirewill force the raw rubber through the fabric. A heavy coating of rubbercement or solution is now applied, preferably, as shown in Fig. 5, bysuspending the Wheel over the trough 0, which contains a certain depthof raw-rubber solution 13, and rotating the wheel in said solution untilit is sufficiently coated. To assist in forcing the solution into thetire, 1 preferably place a pair of standards r at one end of the troughand pivot between these standards the yoke s, in

the lower end of which is journaled a roller 15, which has asemicircular groove in its periphery of the size to fit snugly upon thetire. By means of a set-screw u, passing through the slotted segmentalarm 21, secured to the yoke and into one of the standards '2", Iadjust'a roller to produce any desired degree of friction upon thesurface of the tire. After it is dry it is preferably given anothercoating in the same manner until the desired thickness of the solutionupon the outer surface is obtained. One or both of the coatings of therubber solution or separate partial coatings maybe applied when the tireis off of the rim, so that it will be coated all over. Of course it willbe understood that the coating of rubber solution might be applied witha brush.

A preferred method of embedding the fabric in the rubber is as follows:Instead of placing it upon the rim before inflating it I place it in anordinary tire-mold w, such as is shown in section in Fig. 11, and withthe fabric saturated with naphtha, as before. I then inflate it verystrongly, more so than can be done safely Without the mold, as the moldprevents it from bursting. This forces the rubber through the fabriceven more thoroughly than when it is inflated on the rim. If a verystrong coating of raw rubber has been used to start with and it is thusstrongly inflated in the tire-mold, no coating of solution, such as isdescribed above, need be applied, and for some kinds of tires noadditional coating of any kind is needed; but for the better grades oftires as many layers of raw rubber are applied to the outside of thetire thus formed as may be necessary to give it the desired thickness.raw rubber to make up the thickness are similarly applied after the tireis inflated on the rim and the rubber solution is employed, these layersof raw rubber being applied after the solution is sufficiently dry.After the layers of raw rubber are applied to the tire, whether it isinflated on the rim or in the mold, the tire is then vulcanized in anyof the usual ways known to the trade.

By this construction and method of manufacture it will be seen that Ihave produced a tire that has the advantage of having the fabric made ofa single layer of web without any laps or seams instead of a plurality,as is customary in the ordinary construction. Any desired variations inthe thickness and strength of the fabric are produced by using difierentsizes and qualities of thread in knitting the fabric, and it will beseen that there can be no destruction of the tire by reason of itsseparating along the line of the different fabrics, as occur with theordinary tire constructed of several layers of fabrics. The fabric beingknit is equally elastic and strong in all directions. The fabric Iemploy is so thoroughly saturated throughout by the rubber that it isimpossible to separate the tith- These layers of ric from the rubber.This produces a tire that will last until the fabric is completely Wornthrough.

While I have herein shown and described the method of and apparatus forfrictioning a rubber tube by pressure on the outside thereof when themandrel is inside of it, I do not herein claim that method, but reservethe subject-matter thereof for a divisional application.

While I have shown my invention as embodied in the form which I atpresent consider best adapted to carry out its purposes and asconstructed by the method which I at present consider best, it will beunderstood that it is capable of modifications, and that I do not desireto be limited in the interpretation of the following claims except asmay be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

1. As a new article of manufacture, a pneumatic tire having the tube ofknit fabric embedded therein and its ends brought together and securedwithout overlapping by uniting the loopsforming the ends of the tube;substantially as described.

2. Asa new article of manufacture, a pneumatic tire having the tube ofknit fabric embedded therein and its ends brought together and securedwithout overlapping by uniting the loops forming the ends of the tube byknitting them together; substantially as described.

3. Asanew article of manufacture, a pneumatic tire having a tube of knitfabric embedded therein and its ends brought together and securedWithout overlapping by a cord passed alternately through the loops inthe two ends; substantially as described.

4. As a newarticle of manufacture, a pneumatic tire having the tube ofknit fabric embedded therein and its ends brought together and securedwithout overlapping by uniting the loops forming the ends of the tube bycords stitched through the loops; substantially as described.

5. In the art of making pneumatic tires, the process which consists ofplacing the tube of knit fabric over a tube of raw rubber; in joiningthe ends of the rubber tube and the ends of the fabric tube; insaturating the fabric and outer surface of the rubber tube with naphthaor some equivalent substance; in inflating the tire While stillsaturated to force the rubber through the meshes of the fabric; and insubsequently vulcanizing the tire thus formed; substantially asdescribed.

6. In the art of making pneumatic tires, the process which consists ofplacing the tube of knit fabric over a tube of raw rubber; in joiningthe ends of the rubber tube and likewise the ends of the fabric tube; insaturating the fabric and outer surface of the rub ber tube with naphthaor some equivalent substance; in inflating the tire while stillsaturated to force the rubber through the meshes of the fabric; in thenapplying additional layers of raw rubber; and finally in vulcanizing thetube thus formed; substantially as described.

7. In the art of making pneumatic tires, the process which consists ofplacing a tube of knit fabric over a tube of raw rubber; in joining theends of the rubber tube and likewise the ends of the fabric tube; insaturating the fabric and outer surface of the rubber tube with naphthaor some equivalent substance; in placing the tube in a tire-mold; inthen inflating the tire very strongly while in the mold and while stillsaturated to force the rubber through the meshes of the fabric; and insubsequently vulcanizing the tire thus formed; substantially asdescribed.

8. In the art of making pneumatictires, the process which consists ofplacing a coating of raw rubber over a tube of vulcanized rubber; inthen placing a tube of knit fabric over the raw rubber; in joining theends of the rubber tube and the ends of the fabric tube; in saturatingthe fabric and the outer surface of the raw rubber with naphtha or someequivalent substance; in inflating the tire while still saturated toforce the raw rubber through the meshes of the fabric; and insubsequently vulcanizing the tire thus formed.

9. In the art of making rubber tubes with fabric embedded therein, theprocess which consists of placing a tube of fabric over a tube of rawrubber; in closing the ends of the tube to make it air-tight; insoftening the raw rubber by any suitable means; in inflating the tubewhile the rubber is still softened to force it through the meshes of thefabric; and in subsequently vulcanizing the tube thus formed.

JOHN WV. BLODGETT.

WVitnesses:

G. H. WILLIs, J. MCROBERTS.

